Baby, Its Love
by kitkatieisme
Summary: Ginny struggles with the concept of love. Who to love, how to love, when to love. She fights with herself over Harry and Dean. Set in her 5th year  Harry's 6th year at Hogwarts. ON HIATUS.
1. Diagon Alley

I couldn't. I never gave up, not really. But I pretended, I put on a smile, but inside, it was killing me. But I was with Dean, and we had something there.

Dean was nice and sweet. He was a perfect gentleman…most of the time. I used to love the way he treated me, but I saw Harry and my heart was wrenched away against my will. I couldn't love Dean completely when I kept seeing Harry float through my dreams. I knew, no matter what, I would love Harry Potter forever.

"Ginny, lets go!" I heard my mom yelling, and I was out of there in a flash. I could _not_ stand another minute being fussed over by Fleur. I sprinted down the staircase, and wouldn't you know it, I ran strait into Harry, almost knocking him down the stairs.

"Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to!" I was practically screaming.

He laughed, saying, "Its alright Ginny. Calm down."

I cursed myself on the inside. Did I always have to make a fool of myself when Harry was around? I wasn't fair.

But, luckily, we were soon distracted when some cars pulled up in front of the house. We all raced out of the house, as we were very excited to go to Diagon Alley, and especially excited to see Fred and George's new store, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, for the first time.

My mom and I went to Flourish and Blotts to get the schoolbooks, and then stopped by the Apothecary and Eeylops Owl Emporium, before setting off to find my brother's joke shop. We all squinted at the addresses, knowing we must be close, and finally found it.

I nearly ran into Ron when he stopped in his tracks, saying, "Whoa," and staring, transfixed at the shop. It was bright and colorful, unlike the rest of the shops lining the sides of Diagon Alley. Ron wasn't the only one who stopped, it seemed half of Diagon Alley were standing there, too impressed or amazed to keep walking.

My family and I pushed our way inside, which was just as great as the outside. It was lined with shelves holding boxes piled up to the ceiling. I briefly wondered how they got the boxes up there, let alone down again, before remembering _Wingardium Leviosa _and feeling a little thick.

Then, we spotted Fred, although I'm still not sure how we missed him, as he was wearing magenta robes and he had flaming red hair. But, I barely said hello and asked him how he was doing before he whisked Harry away, leaving me wishing I was going with them. _No,_ I thought to myself, _I have Dean, I can't keep wishing for Harry._

Fred came back after a few minutes, asking, "Haven't you girls found our special WonderWitch products yet? Follow me, ladies…" And so, off we went as he explained exactly what it was that each product did.

He was in the middle of explaining how their love potions worked, before George appeared and finished his sentence for him, before adding, "But we're not selling them to our sister. Not when she's got about five boys on the go from what we've-"

"Whatever you've heard from Ron is a big fat lie," I interrupted, fighting a strong urge to roll my eyes at him. But they wouldn't let it go, so we got into a fight about Dean and boyfriends. I realized that the argument was going nowhere, so I tried to distract my brothers. "What are these?" I asked curiously, picking up a pink puffball off a shelf.

"Pygmy Puffs," explained George. They were really cute. I ended up buying one and calling him Arthur.


	2. Hexed

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

**A/N: **Thanks to Unintelligible Handwriting for adding my story to favorites!

Thanks to mandyyluv and mdauben for adding my story to story alert!

Thanks to mdauben for reviewing! I love it when people review!

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><p>Finally! We were off for another year at Hogwarts! I hopped on the train quickly, then leaned out the window to say good-bye to my mum and dad before they ran off to help Harry.<p>

I started talking with some of my friends about all the usual stuff: boys, O.W.L.S, boys, holidays, boys, rumors, and boys. Some of them squealed when they saw the "oh, so famous and handsome Harry Potter" coming down the aisle. He was struggling with his suitcase, and I know him well enough to know that he was trying to ignore all the gaping and staring.

I laughed quietly at my friend's reactions, but not quietly enough, earning me some glares from them. Harry tapped me on the shoulder, and quietly murmured, "Fancy trying to find a compartment?" I almost broke, and I ended up having a momentary battle on the inside.

_Dean is my boyfriend, I should sit with him._

_But Harry looks a little lonely, and besides, will Dean really care?_

_Yes, he would, he knows you had a crush on him for a while and does tend to get a little jealous…_

This went on for a while, although it was barely a second in reality. I made my choice and sighed inwardly before adding, "I can't, Harry, I said I'd meet Dean. See you later," as nicely and as happily as I could.

My friends just stared at me, but I could tell what was running through their minds. _How on earth could you not want to sit with Harry Potter? _But a promise is a promise. I sighed again as I walked away, and I wasn't smiling by the time I reached Dean's compartment.

He pulled me in and basically sat me down next to him by force. A burst of indignation circled through me. Does he not think I could do it myself? But I calmed myself in time, thinking to myself maybe he's just trying to be nice, although I didn't exactly see how one works that one out.

Before I could think too much on it, though, a distraction came in the form of Zacharias Smith, one of the most annoying people I have ever met. I had no idea what he wanted or why he just sat down opposite me, but hey, we were on the train to Hogwarts, so I was allowed to do magic. My hand found my wand as he started to talk.

"Hey there. Was that Harry Potter I just saw you talking to?" He asked, a little too menacingly for my taste. I nodded vaguely, not exactly sure where he was going with this.

" The same one you had a crush on for years and years?" He continued with a look of dislike etched on his face.

"The key word there is _had_," I responded coldly, although he was getting under my skin. I gripped my wand tighter and Dean's arm around me tensed.

However, Zacharias wasn't through. "Oh, I'm not so sure," he taunted, "I saw the way you looked at him and I am usually excellent and reading faces," he finished, a hint of triumph in his voice.

"Oh really?" I drawled. "Read this face," and the face was a little smug as I did the only reasonable thing that popped into my mind: my bat-bogey hex. And I didn't hesitate at all. I hexed him.

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><p><strong>AN: **I hope you liked it! I forgot to mention that this actually my first fanfic, so don't judge too harshly…anyway please, please, PLEASE review! It would make my day!


	3. Slug Club

**A/N: **Thanks to **Ringworm1** and **MsCluelessChild** for adding my story to favorites!

Thanks to **Michael4HPGW**, **Haruhi-chan131**, and **Icatch0302** for adding my story to story alert!

Thanks to **Michael4HPGW**, **Sarapha**, and **Haruhi-chan131** for reviewing! You guys are the reason I keep writing!

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><p>I cannot tell you how good it felt to hex Zacharias Smith. I also can't tell you how fast that feeling disappeared when I watched a man (who later told me he was a new professor at Hogwarts, Professor Slughorn) walk through the door. Smith seemed to pick up on this opportunity right away.<p>

"She hexed me Professor! She hexed me!" He screamed, which I thought was not necessary considering we were all within five feet of each other.

_Oh crap, _I thought, _crap, what now. Oh, he's going to give me detention on the first day back. God, this must be a record._ I thought up excuses like mad, but the new professor surprised me. He laughed.

He was still chuckling when he muttered the counter-curse, and I thought, _OK, this might not be so bad…_

Then, Slughorn turned to me, and I hesitantly (and probably a little sheepishly) looked into his eyes. His face broke into a grin, and I was caught completely off-guard. He told me, in that overly-jolly tome of his, "_That_, my girl, was an extraordinary piece of magic! Tell me, would you like to have lunch with me and some other students in compartment C?"

Hardly. Lunch with this guy? Please. But then I reminded myself that he hadn't given me a detention, and that could probably change, so I smiled. "Sure. What time?"

"Hmmm. Let's say in about half an hour. Sound good?" He questioned.

"Yeah. OK, see you in half an hour!" I called after him. I turned back to the rest of the compartment and I had to use every muscle in my body to keep from bursting out laughing at their reactions.

Smith looked downright murderous; probably wondering how I cursed him, avoided detention, and became a teacher favorite in 5 minutes. Dean looked shocked, but he also looked a little proud. So he should. Seamus's mouth hung open, but his eyes were squinted, and even though his mouth was wider than a whale's, he looked like he was trying really hard not to laugh.

I couldn't help it. I doubled over in giggles. Seamus was first to join in, and Dean quickly followed. Smith stalked out of the room muttering, but no one could hear what he was saying over our howls of laughter. This made us crack up even more. We laughed for a good five minutes before we settled down.

We talked for a while before I looked up at the clock. 10 minutes until I was supposed to meet up with Slughorn, and I still had to walk all the way to the other side of the train where compartment C was. I bid my friends good-bye and set off.

The walk seemed to pass quickly as I thought about who the "other students" Slughorn invited were. I walked into the room, and was surprised to be the 3rd one there.

Slughorn introduced me to the others: "This here is Marcus Belby, a 7th year, and Cormac McLaggen, another 7th year from Gryffindor. Boys, this is Ginny." They both chorused their hellos and I raised my hand in greeting as I sat down opposite them, but instantly regretted my choice as Slughorn sat right next to me.

I groaned inwardly at the sight of the next guest to arrive, Blaise Zabini. Slughorn, on the other hand seemed thrilled. "Everybody, this is Blaise Zabini." Zabini was a 6th year Slytherin and one the rudest people I know. I made no acknowledgement of his arrival, nor did he make any of me.

This was not going to be a fun lunch with these people. Either Slughorn has really bad judgment of he just likes mean, ugly people. I changed that thought though, as the last two students walked through the door. "Harry, m'boy!" he boomed, jumping up to greet him. "Good to see you, good to see you!"

Slughorn then turned to the other boy accompanying Harry. "And you must be Mr. Longbottom!" he continued. Neville looked positively frightened, and honestly, I don't blame him.

The rest of the lunch passed quickly as Slughorn introduced everybody and then promptly revealed his true purpose for bringing each one of them there as he insistently questioned them on important relatives. If he realized someone did not have the connections he was looking for, they would mysteriously get skipped when he passed around the food, too.

However, he did boast to Zabini about my bat-bogey hex, which shut Zabini up and made me like this professor just a little bit more. He reminisced on old students, and it got quite boring. He started calling us the "Slug Club".

I had just about enough. I was thinking of ways to leave when he exclaimed, "Good gracious, it's getting dark already! I didn't notice that they'd lit the lamps! You'd better go change into your robes, all of you." I was relieved. I was free!

I walked along with Harry and Neville towards my compartment. Barely 10 seconds after we were set free, Neville murmured, "I'm glad that's over. Strange man, isn't he?" I silently agreed.

"Yeah, he is a bit," Harry mused before asking, "How come you ended up in there, Ginny?"

"He saw me hex Zacharias Smith. You remember that idiot from Hufflepuff who was in the D. A.?" I answered him, pointedly averting my eyes, because I knew if I looked into those brilliant green eyes, I would fall into a trance. _Stop it Ginny! You have a boyfriend, remember! _I went on to tell him how Smith had annoyed me so much that I hexed him and how I was sure I was going to get detention when Slughorn walked in, but ended up getting invited to lunch instead. "Mad, eh?" I finished.

Harry scowled and declared, "Better reason for inviting someone than because their mother's famous or because their uncle-" he broke off abruptly. He looked as though something obvious had just made sense to him, but I had no idea what it was.

He pulled out his invisibility cloak and raced off in the other direction muttering, "I'll see you two later…" I didn't know where he was going, but I wasn't particularly worried. I just talked with Neville until we reached my compartment. I stopped, then said good-bye. I turned to open my compartment as Neville raced off.

I was shocked to see two faces staring intently at me. "So," asked Dean with a mischievous smile, "how did it go?" And I sat down next to him and told him all about it.

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><p><strong>AN:** Please review! Also if anyone wants to beta for me (which you probably don't, but whatever) feel free to PM me or write me in a review!


	4. Welcome Back

**A/N:** So, don't get used to all these quick updates, I'm just making up for all the vacations I'm going to go on over summer...anyways PLEASE REVIEW or do something else of the sort! Thanks!

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><p>"So where's Harry?" Hermione asked me. It took me a second to realize that this question was directed towards me, as I had thought she was talking to Ron. They are, after all, his best friends.<p>

"Ummm. I don't know…last I saw he was running off in the other direction. I thought he had missed his compartment or something and was going to find you." I explained to them about how Harry had taken off after the "Slug Club" meeting, and I also ended up telling them a little bit about that, too.

"He doesn't have any interest in you unless you do exceptional work or you have some sort of connection to someone famous or in the ministry." I clarified.

"Who else did he ask to have lunch?" questioned Ron. I traced a hint of disappointment in his voice.

I listed, "He had invited Blaise Zabini, who was just some idiot from Slytherin with a famous uncle, Cormac McLaggen, I think he was in Gryffindor, some kid named Marcus Belby who I don't know, Harry, and Neville."

"Hmmm. I know McLaggen is in Gryffindor," pondered Hermione, "I wonder what kind of connection he has…" She seemed lost in thought, probably reciting all the charms we're going to have to know this year, so I turned to Ron.

Ron, who was seated diagonal from me, and I talked and talked about Quidditch, classes, exams, and just about everything else, but I couldn't help but wonder where Harry was. But, luckily, we spotted Harry soon, although it was not a very pleasant site. His entire face was covered in blood.

"He's covered in blood," I mumbled. "Why is he always covered in blood?" Hermione shrugged and Ron continued stuffing his face. Harry walked down the middle of the Great Hall very quickly and sat between Ron and Hermione, trying to ignore all of the eyes that were suddenly turned towards him.

It seemed that everybody in the Great Hall was goggling him, and Ron was no exception. "Where've you - blimey what've you done with your face?

Harry looked genuinely confused. "Why," he asked, "what's wrong with it?" He immediately snatched a spoon up from his placemat and started staring intently at it, as though examining every little aspect of it.

"You're covered in blood," screeched Hermione. "Come here –" The, she lifted her wand muttering, "Tergio." She managed to get all of the dried blood off of his face.

Harry reached up and felt newly cleaned face. "Thanks," he murmured, "how's my nose looking?"

Hermione hesitated. "Normal," she stated anxiously, "Why shouldn't it? Harry, what happened?" she asked, before crying, "We've been terrified!"

"I'll tell you later," he told he sternly. Do you think his lack of communication had anything to do with Dean, Seamus, Neville, and me listening in and hanging on his every word? It must have been, even Nearly Headless Nick was floating back and forth and back and forth and back and forth trying to figure out what on earth happened to Harry Potter.

Hermione began to protest, "But –"

"Not now, Hermione," interrupted Harry in what anyone could guess was probably an "it's - a – secret – I - can't – very – well - tell – you – now – with – everyone – staring – and – listening" voice.

Harry reached for some food, but before he could get to it, it changed into the chocolate pudding. He settled for a treacle tart instead. I decided listening in on them had gotten boring, as he obviously wasn't going to share anything with anyone in the middle of the Great Hall where anyone could listen in, so I started to talk to Dean instead.

We talked until Dumbledore stood up, and everything went quiet in an instant.

"Best of evenings to you!" He cried, holding his arms out as though wishing someone would come give him a hug.

"Blimey! What happened to his hand?" whispered Dean. Seamus shrugged. Dumbledore's hand looked as though it had been burned, as it was blackened, shriveled, and dead – looking.

Dumbledore seemed to understand what was running through the students' minds, as he merely smiled and shook his purple – and – gold sleeve over it. "Nothing to worry about!" He said evasively.

Nothing to worry about? His hand looked like it had been murdered! Like it was dead! And he expected us not to worry about it?_ That's it_, I thought to myself, _I have to admit it. As much as I don't want to say it, Dumbledore might be a little bit mad. Just a little bit. _

"Now," he continued, "to our new students, welcome, to our old students. Welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits you…"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all started muttering to each other, and I missed part of Dumbledore's welcome – back speech.

When I refocused in on Dumbledore, he was saying, "Mr. Filch, our caretaker, asked me to say that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought at the shop called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."

I had to stifle my laughter as he continued, "Those wishing to play for their House Quidditch teams should give their names to their Heads of Houses as usual. We are also looking for new Quidditch commentators, who should do likewise." I had thought about maybe trying out for the Quidditch team over the summer, but now I actually had to make a decision. _Oh, what the heck_, I thought, _I might as well try out for the Quidditch team and if I don't make it, well, I don't make it._

Dumbledore went on to say, "We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year. Professor Slughorn –" Slughorn stood up, smiling and waving, "- is an old colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of Potions master," stated Dumbledore, smiling, apparently unaware of the uproar he had just started.

"Potions?" The word was repeated countless times and it echoed through the room. A buzz of conversation had started by people either discussing their new professors or by those who thought (or hoped?) that Dumbledore was done.

However, Dumbledore cleared his throat and silence once again took over the room. Everybody looked up at Dumbledore expectantly; no doubt some of them were waiting for Dumbledore to say something about Voldemort. And he did.

"Now, as everybody in this Hall knows, Lord Voldemort –" a collective flinch swept through the enchanted room, "- and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength." Most people were staring at the headmaster with rapt attention, hanging on his every word.

"I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is," he continued, "and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose on you, however irksome you might find them – in particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and others' safety.

His robin – blue eyes swept over the crowd, and with that to think about, he sent us all to bed. With a deafening cheer, hundreds of students filed out of the Great Hall, left to ponder about what Dumbledore's words meant all by themselves.

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><p><strong>AN:** Wow..my longest chapter yet! Over 1,300 words! YAY! R&R!


	5. Daydream

**AN: I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so** **sorry that this is so late, and I know this is no excuse but I've been really bust and (horror of horrors) my internet died in June.**

**Again, sorry, but I hope you enjoy!**

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><p>The next morning, I sat in the common room with Dean the couch. It was getting rather annoying to hearing Dean whisper, "You're beautiful" in my ear every 5 seconds while I'm trying to read a letter Mum sent me and while I'm trying to write a letter back to her, so I finished as quickly as I could and made some excuse about wanting to get a book from my dorm.<p>

"I'll see you at break," I told him before walking away and adding "Maybe," in my head.

"Alright," he said, before adding, "I'll be missing you!" And I know that was sweet and everything, but for the strangest reason, it annoyed me. A lot. I was never a romantic, and his romantic comments seem to push the relationship farther and farther.

Deep down, in my heart of hearts, I knew that it was never going to work out. I knew that we would eventually fall apart. That something or someone would come between us. But right now, I didn't want to think about that. I didn't want it to be completely true. I wanted to savor the relationship as much as I could. Who knows when another one might come along?

He scooped me up in a bear hug, which was not very pleasant until I, for a moment, imagined that Harry was the one hugging me. _Stop that,_ I told myself, _I don't fancy him anymore! _Unfortunately, that annoying little voice in the back of my head that is always right, whispered, _yes, you do._ I knew I couldn't make an argument so I said _shut up._

I pondered whether or not I was crazy (little voices in my head, arguments with myself…I _might_ be going a little nuts…) as I walked up to my dorm slowly, savoring the time I had alone, and rifled through my trunk for a minute before pulling out a muggle book Hermione had loaned me over the summer called _Pride and Prejudice._ It was rather good.

When I got back I headed to the Great Hall for breakfast, mercifully alone and thankful that Dean had gotten distracted by his best friend, Seamus. I looked around and noticed Harry and Ron walking through the door. They appeared to be arguing, and I watched them head strait towards Hermione, who Harry and Ron immediately began talking to and, a minute later, arguing with.

I watched them squabble like two – year – olds and wondered how Ron ever became Prefect. Hermione was understandable. She had amazing grades and hardly ever did anything wrong unless she was with my brother and/or Harry. But Ron? Please.

Ron proved my point for me a couple seconds Ron scream at a first year so loud, the poor guy fell off the bench and onto the floor. Then he laughed. The prat.

Hermione wasn't much better. She confiscated a Fanged Frisbee from a fourth year. God. I hope she isn't going to be one of _those_ Prefects. She could actually give Percy a run for his money.

I laughed as Ron grabbed the Fanged Frisbee out of Hermione's hands exclaiming, "Excellent, I've always wanted one!" Hermione looked like she was going to scold him or something, but then something drowned out her words.

A laugh. A rather loud laud laugh. I looked to see who laughed and why and I discovered that the sound was coming from none other than Lavender Brown. She looked back at him as she walked away, and Rom smiled. I tried, unsuccessfully, to hide my horror at the situation. _That _could only end in disaster.

I sighed and finished my breakfast. I then got opened my book, hoping to finish before class starts. Before I knew it, the book had been finished, the bell had been rung, and Professor McGonagall had handed me my schedule.

I studied my schedule looking for today. Tuesday. I spotted the first period class and groaned inwardly. Ugh. Potions. For first period. On the first day. And worse, the teacher is Slughorn! And Slughorn _likes_ me. I've never liked being a teacher favorite. Only disasters come from being a teacher favorite. Ever.

But, I put on a brave face and walked towards Potions, waving good - bye to Dean on my way out.

As I walked through the door to the Potions room, I was immensely grateful that I was not the first one there, so I could play Slughorn off to other students if the need would arise. Luckily, the class passed with minimal teacher – pet – ish – ness (I know that's not a word, but whatever) as the class was a lecture about O. W. L. S.

As was every other class. I swear, they all said the same thing, so I didn't feel too bad ignoring Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout or Firenze while I busied myself doing other things. More interesting things.

I read ahead in my textbooks, wrote some letters to my family, including ones to Bill and Charlie who I hadn't seen since the Quidditch World Cup except for a few weekends when they would come to visit, had some sweets I snuck in, and doodled.

Once I doodled a family. It was of a mother with long, fiery red hair, a father with unruly black hair, glasses, and bright green eyes, and three children. Of the children, the two boys had the same messy, dark hair as their father, yet only one of them had the same emerald eyes as him. The little girl had the mother's red hair, and was basically a copy of her.

Then, I labeled them. He mother was Ginny, the father was Harry, the boy with the green eyes was Al, the other was James, and the girl was Lily. It was the perfect family. A picture of bliss.

Then, I sighed. My little daydream was utterly and completely hopeless.

No matter how much I wished, how much I prayed, or how much I wanted Harry to notice me and talk with me, he would never, ever be mine.

But even with this thought, something inside Ginny wouldn't give up. It also wouldn't let Ginny throw the picture away, so she carefully stowed it away in her bag, and she saved it forever.

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><p><strong>AN: Also, I've decided to put up a contest:<strong>

**Dig Deeper Contest**

**Create a 3-shot about how Harry felt during 3 big moments in his life set AFTER Deathly Hallows**

**ex: marriage, birth, job, proposal, death**

**PM the name of your story!**


	6. Quidditch Tryouts

**A/N: And yet again I have delayed far too long before giving you another chapter to read. And I apologize. I'm sorry, so don't get too mad. But my internet is still down, and I am posting this from my friend's computer.**

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><p>I woke up early on Saturday morning feeling extremely excited. After all, what kind of person doesn't like Quidditch? I grabbed my broom and walked quietly out of the common room to the portrait, before sprinting down to the Quidditch field to try to get in some extra practice on a broom before Quidditch tryouts. Looks like I wasn't the only one with this idea, either.<p>

On the pitch, I found about 15 people on broomsticks. The youngest was a 3rd year, and she was okay, but nothing special. I also spotted some kids with beater's bat hitting some bludgers between them. I watched as some kids threw the Quaffle through the hoops as a 7th year, Comac McLaggen, tried to stop them. I wondered fleetingly if Ron was trying out, and I also hoped McLaggen wouldn't the team. That guy could be a real jerk.

I also noticed a group of five of girls that were tossing a Quaffle back-and-forth, and among them I recognized Katie Bell from my time on the Quidditch team last year, and Demelza Robins, a friend of mine. I knew Katie was likely to get back on the Quidditch team this year, so I decided that was my best bet.

I mounted my broom and kicked off. "Hey, Demelza!" I called to her. I wasn't sure if she could hear me as I was so far away, but she turned towards me.

"Hey, Ginny! What's up?" she called back.

"Not much," I responded with a grin. "I was just wondering if I could join you." I gestured towards the group she was practicing with.

Katie turned towards the sound of my voice. "Sure! The more the merrier!" She called to me. I smiled and flew over.

I spent the next hour swooping and swerving my way through lines of chasers and avoiding the stray bludgers accidentally sent our way by the group of boys with the bats. I was feeling pretty confident by the time people started filing into the stands and somebody spotted Harry walking towards us.

I found a spot next to Dean, who was also trying out, and watched as Harry reached the stands and surveyed us al sitting on the stands. I got the distinct impression that he was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of people that turned up. As he scanned the crowd, I caught his eye and I smiled and winked. He smiled back. That made me so ridiculously and deliriously happy, I didn't even notice Dean stiffen next to me.

"Alright!" Harry cried. The crowd instantly fell silent. "Everybody get into groups of ten, please." I got in a group with Dean, Seamus, Demelza, and six people I didn't know but that looked to be 4th years.

I got impatient watching as everyone took their turns flying around the pitch, as some couldn't stay on their brooms, some that came without brooms, and some that weren't even Gryffindors!

Harry was getting pretty annoyed when he had to ask anyone who wasn't in Gryffindor to leave the pitch. Were this many girls really standing in line for Harry? My chances keep getting slimmer, although I actually know Harry (the real Harry), so that could help.

Eventually, my group got called to the pitch, and, luckily, I outflew everybody that tried out. In the next test, I scored 17 goals, more than anyone except Katie, who scored 21. I discovered that Demelza was good at dodging bludgers as well.

After two grueling hours and several _very_ amusing temper tantrums later, everybody was seated back in the stands.

Harry cleared his throat and everybody looked at him expectantly. All my fingers were crossed and I strained to listen waiting anxiously.

"So," Harry called, "my three new chasers are Katie Bell, Demelza Robins, and," the crowd seemed to hold its breath, or maybe that was just me. "And Ginny Weasley!" I threw my hands in the air in celebration and Dean kissed my on the cheek, even though I could tell he was a bit upset about not making the team. There was some polite applause, although it was drowned out by a lot of grumbling from some of the people that didn't make the team.

I raced down to the pitch, hugged Demelza and Katie, and went to stand by Harry, who was dealing (yelling and threatening, really) with some of the grumblers, eventually forcing them to leave the field.

Next, Harry started Beater tryouts. I was immensely disappointed to see that none of these kids were anywhere near as reckless or brutal as Fred and George had been, but some of them were okay. In the end, Harry chose a short, but strong 3rd year named Jimmy Peakes, and a wiry boy who could hit a target with amazing precision.

Last, but not least we had come to Keeper tryouts.

"Ginny, Demelza, Katie, I'll need your help for this one. I need you to try to score on the Keepers, alright?"

The three of us chorused our okays and kicked off, grabbing a Quaffle each. I scanned the hopefuls and noticed the telltale head of red hair that told me that Ron was, indeed, trying out.

The first five applicants were positively horrible. The first one didn't save any goals, the second, third and fifth only saved one, and the forth guy saved two.

Then, it was McLaggen's turn. He saved four in a row, including two of mine! That was an insult. As Katie took the final shot though, he flew off in the wrong direction. As I laughed with everyone else, I looked down at the stands, and noticed Hermione hastily stuffing her wand back in her coat.

I considered telling Harry, but then figured I had no proof, and if he didn't make the team, it was for the greater good.

At last, Ron mounted his broom and kicked off into the air, positioning himself in front of the hoops. He was slightly green in the face, but he had such a determined expression on his face, it hardly mattered.

Ron saved the first two, to my amazement, and then it was my turn. As I shot, I feinted left, then went right. He fumbled the ball, and it almost went in, but then he caught in at the last second. I admit I was dumbfounded at how he was doing so well.

Demelza and Katie each shot another time, but he saved those as well. There was tumultuous applause, and as I landed, I recognized Harry trying very hard to resist whooping along with the rest of them, although now he had to face a very angry Cormac McLaggen.

I overheard Cormac telling Harry that I didn't try, and I was going to march over there and set him strait, but Harry got there first…unfortunately.

The new team gathered around Harry, and they set the date for the first official practice. As Ron walked away I heard him animatedly Telling Harry and Hermione about each penalty he saved.

Ah, well. He deserves a little respect once in a while, right?


End file.
